Study: Exercising allows the blood to carry more oxygen to reach the brain

Researchers have come up with a study focusing on the only way to get more oxygen to the brain which is to get more blood to the brain by increasing blood flow. The researchers were interested in seeing how brain oxygen levels were affected by natural behaviours, specifically exercise. Researchers have revealed a truth applicable to all mammals that states: On contrary to accepted knowledge, blood can bring more oxygen to mice brains when they exercise because of the increased respiration packs more oxygen into the haemoglobin.

According to Patrick J. Drew, Huck Distinguished Associate Professor of Neural Engineering and Neurosurgery and associate director of the Penn State Neuroscience Institute, "Standard thought was that mammalian blood is always completely saturated with oxygen." The researchers reported the study in the Journal of Nature Communications.

"We know that people change breathing patterns when doing cognitive tasks," said Drew. "In fact, the respiration phase locks to the task at hand. In the brain, increases in neural activity usually are accompanied by increases in blood flow." However, exactly what is happening in the body was unknown, so the researchers used mice who could choose to walk or run on a treadmill and monitored their respiration, neural activity, blood flow and brain oxygenation.

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